Abstract

Genomewide association studies (GWAS) have proven a powerful hypothesis-free method
to identify common disease-associated variants. Even quite large GWAS, however, have
only at best identified moderate proportions of the genetic variants contributing
to disease heritability. To provide cost-effective genotyping of common and rare variants
to map the remaining heritability and to fine-map established loci, the Immunochip
Consortium has developed a 200,000 SNP chip that has been produced in very large numbers
for a fraction of the cost of GWAS chips. This chip provides a powerful tool for immunogenetics
gene mapping.